- Trove shifted its focus from Hyperliquid to Solana after securing over 11.5 million dollars in Hyperliquid-related funds.
- Members of the village have been demanding a refund because the initial terms of their investment do not apply.
- Advisors on-chain pointed out some activity with the HYPE token, which further drew focus before the launch of the TROVE token.
Trove Markets has raised the ire of its community following its sudden flip in its decentralized perpetual exchange, which transitioned from Hyperliquid to Solana, amid having raised over $11.5 million for its launch, which was based on its Hyperliquid model. Backers are now demanding refunds as the project’s TGEP approaches.
The token sale for TROVE was expected to take place between January 8th and January 11th, and the token generation sale was also expected to continue on Monday at 4:00 pm UTC. Nevertheless, Trove has admitted that the move to Solana and the handling of requests for refunds could take some extra time.
Trove first disclosed the pivot in a Friday post on X. Shortly after, one of the project’s builders, known as “Unwise,” explained that a liquidity partner had withdrawn 500,000 Hyperliquid (HYPE) tokens that Trove needed to deploy its product on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure.
“This changes our constraints,” Unwise said. “We’re no longer building on Hyperliquid rails, so we’re rebuilding the perp DEX on Solana from the ground up.”
Hyperliquid exit sparks backlash
The announcement caught many supporters off guard. In November, Trove raised a separate $20 million to purchase 500,000 HYPE tokens required for Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 staking model. That stake acts as a slashable security bond needed to launch a perpetual market on Hyperliquid, which made the project’s original roadmap heavily dependent on that ecosystem.
As a result, critics argue that Trove raised capital under specific technical and ecosystem assumptions that no longer apply. Several backers immediately took to X to demand refunds rather than a revised roadmap.
“Refund everyone ASAP and re-raise with your new conditions,” wrote X user NMTD.HL. “People did not invest in your ICO for you to launch on Solana.”
Another user, HYPEconomist, echoed the sentiment. “You raised money to build on Hyperliquid. Give it back and raise again on Solana if that’s what your community wants.”
Others have asked Trove to elucidate their intentions with refund options following the TGE and how the Solana rebuild impacts existing promises.
Trove pushes ahead with Solana rebuild
Despite all this criticism, Trove is set to work on Solana and assist in building their product of a limitless collectibles exchange based on perpetual exchange. The platform aims to support trading for assets such as Pokémon cards and Counter-Strike 2 skins, a niche that Bitwise projected in September could grow into a $21.4 billion market.
Trove said the Solana pivot allows the team to rebuild without the constraints imposed by Hyperliquid’s staking and liquidity requirements. However, the team has not yet detailed how it plans to replace the capital structure tied to the original HYPE stake.
On-chain activity raises new questions
Adding to the controversy, blockchain investigator ZachXBT and the Hyperliquid News account flagged several Trove-related transfers involving HYPE tokens. The observations relied on data from the Hyperliquid block explorer, Hypurrscan, and have fueled speculation about how the tokens raised for the Hyperliquid launch were distributed after the pivot.
So far, Trove has not publicly addressed the flagged transfers. Cointelegraph reached out for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
With the TGE looming ever closer, Trove faces ever-creasing pressure to repair public trust and make it abundantly clear how the project’s refund structure and Solana roadmap relate to each other. The results may determine how future projects communicate changes in the now-skeptical world of token economics.
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